Card reader having discriminator contact

ABSTRACT

A card reader for a point-of-sale system that is configured to accept both magnetic strip-type and integrated circuit (IC) chip-type payment cards. The card reader is a component of a point-of-sale system including a portable computing device in communication with the card reader that is configured to present a first graphical user interface (GUI) when a magnetic stripe-type card is detected and a second GUI when an IC chip-type card is detected in the card reader. The card reader comprises a slot configured to receive the payment card, a magnetic reading device and an IC chip reading device. The card reader also includes a discriminator contact disposed within the slot that is configured to conduct across a surface of a metal pad of the IC chip-type card prior to the CI chip reading device making contact with the IC chip.

BACKGROUND

Consumers can interact with merchants to conduct various financialpayment transactions. For example, a consumer can conduct a transactionwith a merchant at a point-of-sale system using cash, a transactioncard, or other transaction instrument. Conventional systems can includeexpensive and bulky financial transaction electronics, as may include acard reader for payment cards (e.g., debit or credit cards), a cashdrawer, monitors, keyboards, and various other electronic devices.Oftentimes, however, this equipment can be costly and large, requiringadditional space and resources. Further, in retail stores where space islimited, a merchant may not require all components that come withconventional point-of-sale system or at least may find it desirable topiece together a modular or mobile system to streamline the checkoutexperience. Further still, merchants may find approaches to conducting afinancial transaction using conventional systems burdensome, whereduring a transaction, if a customer pays by credit card, the merchanthas to enter a transaction amount and the merchant or the customer hasto swipe the credit card in the card reader. Further, many transactionsrequire that the customer sign a physical receipt, electronicallyapprove a transaction, e.g., by pressing an approve button on a userinterface, electronically sign for the transaction, e.g., with a stylusor finger on an electronic signature capture device with a touchsensitive pad, or enter an authorizing personal identification number(PIN), many of which techniques require additional financial transactionelectronics and time. Some point-of-sale systems require multiple typesof card readers and/or complex and bulky card-reading equipment in orderto accept multiple types of payment cards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which features of the disclosure canbe obtained, a more particular description of the principles will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a payment terminalconfigured to receive both magnetic stripe-type cards and IC chip-typecards, and having a discriminator contact, in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic diagram of a card readerconfigured to receive both magnetic stripe-type cards and IC chip-typecards, the card reader having a discriminator contact in accordance withan embodiment;

FIG. 2B illustrates an example schematic diagram of the electricalcontact and solenoid-actuated stopper, in accordance with an embodiment

FIG. 3A illustrates an example partial cut-out view of an IC chip-typecard, showing an internal IC chip and an external metal contact pad ofthe chip-type card, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3B illustrates an example cross-sectional side view of a cardreader configured to receive both magnetic stripe-type cards and ICchip-type cards, the card reader having front located discriminatorcontacts in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3C illustrates an example cross-sectional side view of a cardreader configured to receive both magnetic stripe-type cards and ICchip-type cards, the card reader having back located discriminatorcontacts in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for conducting a financial paymenttransaction in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example environment for conducting a financialpayment transaction in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an example environment for implementing a merchantpayment system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure overcome one or more of the above-referenced andother deficiencies in conventional approaches to conducting financialtransactions. In particular, in accordance with various embodiments,approaches provide for a point-of-sale system that facilitates thetransfer of funds between entities (e.g., customers and merchants).

For example, in accordance with various embodiments, a card reader isused in performing at least part of a payment transaction at apoint-of-sale system. The card reader is configured to receive bothmagnetic stripe cards and IC chip-type cards. The card reader can be aslot on a consumer terminal. The slot can be part of a standalone cardreader accessory in some embodiments, or directly integrated into aportable computing device that is part of the point-of-sale system. Forexample, the slot can be an internal component of a personal computingdevice (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc.) that is used in apayment transaction by inserting payment cards into the slot. The cardreader can be a separate component independent of the portable computingdevice in some embodiments.

One aspect of point of sale systems that accept both IC chip-type cardsand magnetic stripe-type cards is that such systems must presentdifferent graphical user interface features to a payer (e.g., customer)utilizing an IC chip than to a payer utilizing a magnetic stripe. Apoint of sale system must first recognize the type of card being used,and then present the user interface, but such steps provide a delay incompleting a transaction. Every delay is important, especially for highvolume payees (e.g., merchants).

The card reader of the present technology includes at least onediscriminator contact configured to determine the type of card beingprovided to the card reader. In this manner, the discriminator contactcan identify the card type for early card-type detection so that, forexample, the appropriate interface can be provided to the customer,meaning that, for example, a PIN-entry display is provided for achip-type card, while a signature-entry display is provided for aswipe-type card. The discriminator contact can also be in communicationwith a solenoid-actuated stopper that is provided in the card reader tolocate the payment card at a desired position within the card reader.For example, the stopper can prevent the chip-type cards from fullinsertion into the card reader, while allowing magnetic stripe-typecards to be fully inserted, thus providing feedback to a cardholder thatthe desired payment mechanism (the IC chip) is being used, and furthergiving a cardholder peace of mind that an imprint (digital or physical)of the card isn't being taken inappropriately. The discriminator contactcan further be used to differentiate a non-working chip-type card from amagnetic stripe-type card so that, for example, an interface can beprovided to the user that the chip-type card is not working if that isthe case.

Advantageously, such a card reader provides for reading both magneticstripe-type cards and IC chip-type cards. Further, additionalfunctionalities can be provided based upon the type of card detected bythe discriminator contact, such as providing a user interface to theuser that is specific to the type of card that has been detected. Moreparticularly, a chip-type interface is provided for detected chip-typecards and a magnetic stripe-type interface is provided for detectedmagnetic stripe-type cards. The card reader further can differentiate amagnetic stripe-type card from a non-working chip-type card via thediscriminator contact. The presence of the chip-type card is determinedwhen the discriminator contact forms a complete circuit (in someembodiments, the circuit is completed only momentarily) by conductingacross the metal contact pad of the ship-type card. Thus, a card havingan IC chip that does not work registers as a chip-type card.

Other advantages, variations, and functions are described and suggestedbelow as may be provided in accordance with the various embodiments.FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a payment terminal usedas part of a point-of-sale system that conducts transactions during thesale of a product, a good or a service. In this example, a transactionis conducted at a payment terminal using a payment card, e.g., a creditcard, a magnetic stripe-type card, or an IC chip-type card. It should benoted that although the user is shown conducting a transaction using apayment card, in various embodiments, transactions can be conductedthrough a card-less payment account that is linked to the payment card.Other transactions include person-to-person, account-to-account,electronic cash, among others. These payment instruments are usuallyassociated with an established consumer account. It should be furthernoted that although a credit card is shown to conduct transactions,approaches described herein apply to other types of financial paymentinstruments including, for example, debit cards, and card-less paymentaccounts. As described, in conventional point-of-sale systems, theequipment used can be costly and large, requiring additional space andresources. Further, in retail stores where space is limited, a merchantmay not require all components that come with a conventionalpoint-of-sale system or at least may find it desirable to piece togethera modular or mobile system to streamline the checkout experience.Further still, in some embodiments, the computing device may only becapable of supporting a single peripheral device due to the device onlyhaving one physical interface, such as is the situation with many mobilephones and/or table computers. Accordingly, in accordance with variousembodiments, approaches provide for a point-of-sale system that includesa payment terminal with a card reader having at least one discriminatorcontact to facilitate a financial payment transaction between entities(e.g., customers and merchants). The discriminator contact is configuredto determine the type of card inserted into the card reader to properlypresent interfaces to the merchant and/or the consumer and perform othertransactions associated with the sale of the product, good or service.

FIG. 1 illustrates the payment terminal 100 includes a processor 110having RAM memory 112 for storage of data and flash ROM 114 for use inprocessing data. The processor is operatively connected to a display 116for displaying information and graphical user interface (GUI) displaysto the consumer at the payment terminal 100 and other information to theconsumer. A card reader 120 is included in the payment terminal 100 andincludes a magnetic head reader 122 coupled to a magnetic stripe readingblock 124. An EMV contact block 126 can also be included in the cardreader 120 and is coupled to an EMV reader 128 for reading andprocessing data that it provides to the processor 110. The card reader120 also includes an EMV contactless antenna 130, coupled to acontactless EMV reader 132 for receiving and processing data from theantenna. The contactless antenna can also be used for near-fieldcommunication (NFC) and other low-power communication channels. Astopper 134 is included in the card reader 120 which is actuated by thesolenoid 136 via the signal it receives from the processor 110. The cardreader 120 also includes a discriminator contact 138 coupled to acontroller 140 configured to take the electrical signal from thediscriminator contact and provide the signal to the processor 110. Insome embodiments, the controller 140 can be directly coupled to solenoid136 to provide a signal to actuate stopper 134 when a chip-type card isinserted in the card reader. The signal from the discriminator contactis used to determine when an IC chip-type card is present in the cardreader. The discriminator contact conducts across the surface of a metalpad of the chip-type card to determine when a chip-type card is insertedin the card reader. The signal provided by the discriminator contact canthus be used by the controller to provide an appropriate GUI display tothe consumer based upon the type of card used in the paymenttransaction. More specifically, a magnetic stripe-type specific GUI isprovided when a magnetic stripe-type card is inserted in the card readerand an IC chip-type card is provided when an IC chip-type card isinserted in the card reader. Note that the magnetic head reader 122, EMVcontact block 126, EMV contactless antenna 130, stopper 134 anddiscriminator contact 138 are all shown as disposed within a single cardreader which, for example, can comprise single slot on the paymentterminal. In some embodiments, each payment reader can comprise aseparate reader or reading position on the payment terminal, which canbe appropriately distributed and/or dispersed throughout the paymentterminal and/or on various surfaces thereof.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic diagram of a card readerconfigured to receive both magnetic stripe-type cards and IC chip-typecards, the card reader having at least one detector contact inaccordance with an embodiment. The card reader, for example, can be thecard reader 120 of FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 2A, the card reader200, delimited by the solid outer line, is configured to receive both amagnetic stripe-type card 210, defined by the inner dotted line, and achip-type card 220, defined by the inner dashed line. The magneticstripe-type card is read by a magnetic stripe reader 230. In thisembodiment the magnetic stripe reader 230 is located at a lower positionwithin the card reader 200 so that the magnetic stripe-type card 210 isread when fully inserted within the card reader 200. Refer, for example,to FIG. 3B showing an example cross-sectional side view of a card reader325 with the magnetic read head 340 as being at a position on a firstside 342 of the card reader. The chip-type card 220 is read by an EMVreader 232. Refer again to FIG. 3B showing the chip contact protrusions334 as being on a second side 338 of the card reader.

The card reader includes at least two discriminator contacts 234 thatare configured to determine the type of card present in the card reader200 before the card reaches a depth sufficient for reading of a chip ofthe chip-type card. The discriminator contacts 234 are coupled to acontroller 240 that sends a signal to a solenoid 242 when a chip-typecard is detected by the discriminator contacts 234. The discriminatorcontacts 234 conduct across the surface of the metal pad of the IC chipcard for a brief period of time as the chip card is inserted in the cardreader and the metal pad passes by the discriminator contacts. Thesolenoid 242 is, in turn, coupled to a stopper 244 that is actuated bythe signal received from the controller 240 to prevent a chip-type cardfrom being fully inserted into the card reader 200. The discriminatorcontacts 234 are configured to detect a chip-type card by conductingacross a metal pad (shown in FIG. 3A) of the chip-type card so that,when a circuit is complete (meaning, a metal pad has been detected), thecontroller 240 appropriately instructs the solenoid 242 to actuate thestopper 244. The signal from the controller 240 can also be used inaccordance with the teachings herein to provide the appropriate userinterface to the consumer, depending upon the particular payment cardthat is inserted in the card reader. The signal provided by thecontroller can also be used to provide an appropriate signal to indicatethe payment card inserted in the card reader is a chip-type card. Thus,if the discriminator contacts detect a chip-type card, but the IC cardreader is not able to read data off the IC chip, then the card can beidentified as being a malfunctioning IC chip-type card. For example, ifthe card is not able to be read within a predetermined time period, thenthe customer or merchant can be notified that there is a problem withthe card. Although two discriminator contacts are shown, in someembodiments, a single discriminator contact can be utilized to detect achip-type card through methods such as capacitive sensing in which astored electric charge at the discriminator contact is used as acapacitive probe to detect the metal pad of the IC chip card.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2B showing an example schematic diagram ofdiscriminator contacts 250 and a solenoid 252 which actuates a stopper(not shown), in accordance with an embodiment. The discriminatorcontacts 250 are configured to conduct an electrical signal across themetal pad of an IC chip-type card (see, for example, metal pad 320A ofFIG. 3A). The signal passes through a controller, represented by a pairof diodes 254 and 256, which send a signal to the solenoid 252 toactuate the stopper when an IC chip-type card is detected at thediscriminator contacts 250.

A computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc.) canbe provided as a separate device that is in communication with thepayment terminal or as a device integrated into the payment terminal.The computing device can run a merchant application or other financialtransaction software that can provide functionality to facilitate apoint-of-sale such as by enabling payment transactions. For example, inaccordance with various embodiments, the merchant application can bedownloaded and installed on the computing device. The software can beconfigured to operate with a card reader, where an individual cancomplete a financial transaction by swiping a magnetic stripe cardthrough the card reader connected to the computing device. In thisexample, the financial transaction can be any transaction that involvesreceiving or sending payment from one person to another. The magneticstripe card can be, for example, a credit card, a debit card, or othertypes of payment authenticating pieces capable of carrying out thefinancial transaction. In accordance with various embodiments, the sizeof the card reader is miniaturized to be portable for connection withthe computing device. The card reader is configured to reliably readdata encoded in a magnetic stripe of the card with minimum error in asingle swipe and provide a signal that corresponds to the data read tothe computing device, which then decodes the incoming signal from thecard reader and acts as a point-of-sale device to complete the financialtransaction.

In accordance with various embodiments, the financial transaction cardreader device can include a housing having a slot for swiping a magneticstripe of a financial transaction card to complete the financialtransaction. A read head in the housing reads data stored on themagnetic stripe and produces a signal indicative of data stored on themagnetic stripe. An output jack is adapted to be inserted into amicrophone input associated with the computing device for providing thesignal indicative of data stored on the magnetic stripe to the computingdevice, where the signal is then decoded in the computing device. Inaccordance with various embodiments, the card reader can be a device onan exterior surface of a portable computing device (e.g. mobile phone ortablet computer, etc.). The card reader can be a slot integrated withinthe portable computing device in some embodiments, and the card readercan be a separate component independent of the portable computing devicein some embodiments.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example partial cut-out view of an IC chip-typecard, showing an internal IC chip and an external metal contact array ofthe chip-type card in partial cut-out view, in accordance with anembodiment. A chip-type card 300 generally has an IC chip 310 embeddedwithin the chip that has secure information stored therein, such as aPIN (personal identification number). The chip is covered with a metalcontact array 320 that has a number of individual contact pads 320A,320B, 320C, 320D, 320E, 320F, 320G, and 320H, each in contact with adifferent portion of the IC chip 310, depending upon the particular cardmanufacturer and/or design of the chip. The contact array 320 isgenerally formed from a plurality of individual metal pads and,accordingly, by conducting electricity across the surface of a singlepad, it is possible to determine when an IC chip-type card is locatedwithin the card reader and differentiate from a magnetic stripe-typecard which does not include such a metal pad. The discriminator contactsshown and described herein conduct electricity across the surface of themetal pad to determine when an IC chip-type card is present, and thus donot electrically interact with the IC chip buried deeper in the EMVcard. This further allows for defective chip-type cards to beidentified; when the metal pad is detected, yet the system is unable tocommunicate with the IC chip, this indicates the chip is defective.

In one embodiment of the current invention illustrated in FIG. 3B, acard reader 325 includes at least two discriminator contacts 330 on asecond surface 338 that are located at the front of card reader 325 forearly detection of the card type. There is also provided a stopper 332that is solenoid-actuated via a signal received from the discriminatorcontacts 330 in accordance with the disclosures herein. A plurality ofIC chip reading protrusions 334 are provided on an interior surface ofthe card reader 325 to contact all of pads 320A, 320B, 320C, 320D, 320E,320F, 320G, and 320H for reading data off the IC chip embedded within anIC chip-type card. The stopper 332 is solenoid-actuated so that, when anIC chip-type card is detected, the card 344 is prevented fromover-insertion within the card reader. The card reader 325 also includesa magnetic read head device 340 located on a first surface 342 of thecard reader 325 for reading the magnetic stripe off of magneticstripe-type cards. The magnetic head reading device 340 is positionedsuch that the entire magnetic stripe of the payment card passes by thedevice 340 to ensure the full magnetic stripe is read.

In another embodiment of the current invention shown in FIG. 3C, a cardreader 325 includes at least one discriminator contact 331 locatedtoward the back of card reader 325 and integrated with IC chip readingprotrusions 335. The discriminator contact 331 is located adjacent toone of the plurality of IC chip reading protrusions 335 and, in certainembodiments, works in conjunction with said one IC chip readingprotrusion to detect the card type in accordance with the disclosuresherein. In other embodiments, two or more discriminator contacts can beintegrated with the IC chip reading protrusions 335 to detect the cardtype without the use of the IC chip reading protrusions. There is alsoprovided a stopper 332 that is solenoid-actuated via a signal receivedfrom the discriminator contacts 330 when a chip type card is detected. Aplurality of IC chip reading protrusions 335 are provided on an interiorsurface of the card reader 325 to contact all of pads 320A, 320B, 320C,320D, 320E, 320F, 320G, and 320H for reading data off the IC chipembedded within an IC chip-type card. The stopper 332 issolenoid-actuated so that, when an IC chip-type card is detected, thecard 344 is prevented from over-insertion within the card reader. Thecard reader 325 also includes a magnetic read head device 340 located ona first surface 342 of the card reader 325 for reading the magneticstripe off of magnetic stripe-type cards. The magnetic head readingdevice 340 is positioned such that the entire magnetic stripe of thepayment card passes by the device 340 to ensure the full magnetic stripeis read.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for conducting a financial paymenttransaction in accordance with various embodiments. A payment card isreceived in the card reader 410. The signal at the discriminator contact(for example, discriminator contact 234 in FIG. 2A) is used to determineif a circuit is completed. If the circuit is completed 412, an ICchip-type card is detected 414. The IC chip-type card reader isactivated at 416 to read the chip-type card. The stopper 418 canoptionally be activated to properly locate the chip-type card within thecard reader. The payment information 420 is acquired and then sent to apayment system 422. If the circuit is not completed when the card isinserted 412, a magnetic stripe-type card is detected 424. The magneticstripe is read 426 and payment information is acquired 428. The paymentinformation is then sent to a payment system 422 for verification and/ordenial of the payment transaction.

Having now described various example embodiments of the point-of-salesystem used in a point-of-sale transaction, some example environmentsfor conducting a financial transaction at a point-of-sale system willnow be described. Other environments and applications of thepoint-of-sale system should be apparent to those ordinarily skilled inthe art.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example environment for conducting a financialtransaction at a point-of-sale system in accordance with variousembodiments. In this example, the example environment 500 includes amerchant payment system 502 for processing transactions between acustomer and a merchant. The merchant payment system includes, forexample, a data processing server 504 and a payment server 506. The dataprocessing server can be implemented as computer programs on one or morecomputers in one or more locations, in which the systems, components,and techniques described below can be implemented. The operation of thepayment server is described below in reference to FIG. 6. The exampleenvironment also includes computing devices, e.g., transaction registersor other point-of-sale systems, corresponding to the merchant 510 and511.

As described, the point-of-sale systems 510 and 511 can include the hub(e.g., hub 204) and computing device, where the computing device can becoupled to or in communication with the merchant payment system througha data communication network 508, e.g., the Internet. These devices eachgenerally include a memory, e.g., a random access memory (RAM), forstoring instructions and data, and a processor for executing storedinstructions. The devices and can each include one or more components,e.g., software or hardware, that are operable to send and receiverequests, messages, or other types of information over the network. Someexamples of computing devices include personal computers, cellularphones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, personal dataassistants, tablet devices, and the like.

The network 508 can include any appropriate network, including anintranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a widearea network, or any other such network, or combination thereof.Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon thetype of network, the environment selected, or both. Protocols andcomponents for communicating over such a network are well known and willnot be discussed herein in detail. The devices and the referral systemcan communicate over the network using wired or wireless connections,and combinations thereof.

Each of the computing devices is configured to send to the merchantpayment system respective financial data that corresponds to a financialtransaction that was processed by the computing device. The financialdata can include, for example, data stored in a financial payment card,e.g., Track 1 data, receipt email addresses, and information describinga card-less payment account. Other examples of financial data that canbe captured includes purchase data, e.g., an itemized listing ofpurchases, card mix data, geolocation data indicating a geographiclocation of a particular transaction, online/offline card data, datadescribing the merchant, e.g., merchant category codes (MCCs), and anytype of data that is received upon a customer's authentication into asocial network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an environment 600 for implementing apayment service network. Although a mobile device environment isdescribed for purposes of explanation, different environments may beused, e.g., a web-based environment, to implement various embodiments.The example environment includes a payment system 608, which can beimplemented as computer programs on one or more computers in one or morelocations, in which the systems, components, and techniques describedbelow can be implemented. The example environment also includes a userdevice 602 and a merchant device 605.

The user device and the merchant device can each be a computer coupledto the payment system through a data communication network 650, e.g.,the Internet. The user device and the merchant device each generallyinclude a memory, e.g., a random access memory (RAM), for storinginstructions and data, and a processor for executing storedinstructions. The user device and the merchant device can each includeone or more components, e.g., software or hardware, that are configuredto respectively determine a geographic location of the user device orthe merchant device, using, for example, various geolocation techniques,e.g., a global positioning system (GPS). Further, the user device andthe merchant device can each be any appropriate device operable to sendand receive requests, messages, or other types of information over thenetwork. Some examples of user devices include personal computers,cellular phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, personaldata assistants, tablet devices, and the like.

The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet,the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, or any other such network, or combination thereof. Componentsused for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type ofnetwork, the environment selected, or both. Protocols and components forcommunicating over such a network are well known and will not bediscussed herein in detail. The payment system, the merchant device, andthe user device can communicate over the network using wired or wirelessconnections, and combinations thereof.

As used in this specification, a financial transaction is a transactionthat is conducted between a customer and a merchant at a point-of-sale.When paying for a financial transaction, the customer can provide themerchant with cash, a check, or credit card for the amount that is due.The merchant can interact with a point-of-sale device, e.g., merchantdevice, to process the financial transaction. During financialtransactions, the point-of-sale device can collect data describing thefinancial transaction, including, for example, the amount of paymentreceived from customers.

In some implementations, the payment system is configured to acceptcard-less payment transactions from customers, e.g., the customer. Asused in this specification, a card-less payment transaction is atransaction conducted between the customer and a merchant at thepoint-of-sale during which a financial account of the customer ischarged without the customer having to physically present a financialpayment card to the merchant at the point-of-sale. That is, the merchantneed not receive any details about the financial account, e.g., thecredit card issuer or credit card number, for the transaction to beprocessed.

Before conducting card-less payment transactions, the customer typicallycreates a user account with the payment system. The customer can createthe user account, for example, by interacting with a user applicationthat is configured to perform card-less payment transactions and that isrunning on the user device. When creating a user account with thepayment system, the customer will provide information of the customer,data describing a financial account of the customer, e.g., credit cardnumber, expiration date, and a billing address. This user informationcan be securely stored by the payment system, for example, in a userinformation database. To accept card-less payment transactions, themerchant typically creates a merchant account with the payment system byproviding information describing the merchant including, for example, amerchant name, contact information, e.g., telephone numbers, themerchant's geographic location address, and one or more financialaccounts to which funds collected from users will be deposited. Thismerchant information can be securely stored by the payment system, forexample, in a merchant information database.

The payment system is configured to perform card-less paymenttransactions. The payment system can include one or more servers thatare configured to securely perform electronic financial transactions,e.g., electronic payment transactions, between a customer and amerchant, for example, through data communicated between the user deviceand the merchant device. Generally, when a customer and a merchant enterinto an electronic financial transaction, the transaction is processedby transferring funds from a financial account associated with the useraccount to a financial account associated with the merchant account.

The payment system is configured to send and receive data to and fromthe user device and the merchant device. For example, the payment systemcan be configured to send data describing merchants to the user deviceusing, for example, the information stored in the merchant informationdatabase 612. For example, the payment system can communicate datadescribing merchants that are within a threshold geographic distancefrom a geographic location of the user device, as described in thisspecification. The data describing merchants can include, for example, amerchant name, geographic location, contact information, and anelectronic catalogue, e.g., a menu, that describes items that areavailable for purchase from the merchant.

In some embodiments, the payment system is configured to determinewhether a geographic location of the user device is within a thresholdgeographic distance from a geographic location of the merchant device.The payment system can determine a geographic location of the userdevice using, for example, geolocation data provided by the user device.Similarly, the payment system can determine a geographic location of themerchant device using, for example, geolocation data provided by themerchant device or using a geographic address, e.g., street address,provided by the merchant. Depending on the implementation, the thresholdgeographic distance can be specified by the payment system or by themerchant.

Determining whether the user device is within a threshold geographicdistance of the merchant device can be accomplished in different waysincluding, for example, determining whether the user device is within athreshold geographic radius of the merchant device, determining whetherthe user device is within a particular geofence, or determining whetherthe user device can communicate with the merchant device using aspecified wireless technology, e.g., Bluetooth or Bluetooth low energy(BLE). In some embodiments, the payment system restricts card-lesspayment transactions between the customer and the merchant to situationswhere the geographic location of the user device is within a thresholdgeographic distance from a geographic location of the merchant device.

The payment system can also be configured to communicate with a computersystem 616 of a card payment network, e.g., Visa or MasterCard, over thenetwork, or over a different network, for example, to conduct electronicfinancial transactions. The computer system of the card payment networkcan communicate with a computer system 616 of a card issuer, e.g., abank. There may be computer systems of other entities, e.g., the cardacquirer, between the payment system and the computer system of the cardissuer.

The customer operating the user device that is within a thresholdgeographic distance of the merchant can interact with a user applicationrunning on the user device to conduct a card-less payment transactionwith the merchant. While interacting with the user application, thecustomer can select the merchant, from a listing of merchants, with whomthe customer wants to enter into a card-less payment transaction. Theuser can select the merchant, for example, by selecting a “check in”option associated with the merchant. The user device can communicatedata to the payment system indicating that the customer has checked inwith the merchant. In response, the payment system can communicate datato notify the merchant device that the user has checked in. A merchantapplication running on the merchant device can notify the merchant thatthe user has electronically checked in with the merchant through adisplay screen of the merchant device.

Once checked in, the customer can collect, or request, items that areavailable for purchase from the merchant. When the customer is ready toenter into the card-less payment transaction, the customer can, forexample, approach a point-of-sale for the merchant and identify him orherself. For example, the customer can verbally notify the merchant thatthe customer wants to enter into a card-less payment transaction and canprovide the merchant with the customer's name. The merchant can theninteract with the merchant application to select the customer, from alisting of customers that have checked in with the merchant, to initiatea card-less payment transaction for the items being purchased by thecustomer. For example, the merchant can determine a total amount to billthe customer for the items being purchased. The customer can verballyapprove the total amount to be billed and, in response, the merchant cansubmit a request for a card-less payment transaction for the totalamount to the payment system. In response, the payment system canobtain, for example, from the user information database, data describinga financial account associated with a user account of the customer towhich the total amount will be billed.

The payment system can then communicate with the computer system of acard payment network to complete an electronic financial transaction forthe total amount to be billed to the customer's financial account. Oncethe electronic financial transaction is complete, the payment system cancommunicate data describing the card-less payment transaction to theuser device, e.g., an electronic receipt, which can, for example, notifythe customer of the total amount billed to the user for the card-lesspayment transaction with the particular merchant.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory,networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include laptops,smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personal digitalassistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also can beembodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can also beimplemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A card reader configured to accept both magneticstripe cards and integrated circuit (IC) chip cards, the card readerbeing a component of a point-of-sale system including a portablecomputing device in communication with the card reader, wherein theportable computing device is configured to present a first graphicaluser interface when a magnetic stripe card is accepted within the cardreader, and a second graphical user interface when an IC chip-type cardis accepted within the card reader, the card reader comprising: a slotconfigured to receive a payment card used during a point-of-saletransaction, the payment card being a magnetic stripe-type card or an ICchip-type card; a magnetic reading device included in the slot that isconfigured to read data off a magnetic stripe of a magnetic stripe-typecard; an IC chip reading device included in the slot that is configuredto read data off an integrated circuit of an IC chip-type card; and anelectrical contact disposed within the slot that is configured toconduct across a surface of a metal pad of the IC chip-type card priorto the IC chip reading device making contact with the integratedcircuit, and the electrical contact being further configured to createan electrically detectable signal when in contact with the metal pad; acontroller in electrical connection with the electrical contact, that isconfigured to interpret the electrically detectable signal when theelectrical contact is in contact with the metal pad of the IC chip-typecard, the controller being further configured to cause the portablecomputing device to present the first graphical user interface when thepayment card is a magnetic stripe-type card, and to cause the portablecomputing device to present the second graphical user interface when thepayment card is an IC chip-type card and the electrical contact is incontact with the metal pad of the IC chip-type card; and asolenoid-actuated stopper in electrical communication with theelectrical contact to stop an IC chip-type card at a desired locationwithin the slot.
 2. The card reader of claim 1 wherein data is read offthe IC chip-type card wirelessly.
 3. The card reader of claim 1 whereindata is read off the IC chip-type card via physical connection.
 4. Thecard reader of claim 1 wherein the slot is integrated within theportable computing device and the first GUI and the second GUI areconfigured to be displayed on the portable computing device.
 5. The cardreader of claim 1 wherein the slot is formed on a card reader that is astandalone component independent of the portable computing device and incommunication with the portable computing device.
 6. A payment terminalcomprising: a card reader configured to receive a payment card during apoint-of-sale transaction, the payment card being a magnetic stripe-typecard or an IC chip-type card; a magnetic reading device included in thecard reader that is configured to read data off a magnetic stripe of amagnetic stripe-type card; an integrated circuit (IC) chip readingdevice included in the card reader that is configured to read data offan IC of an IC chip-type card; an electrical contact disposed within thecard reader and configured to determine when an IC chip-type card isinserted in the card reader; a controller in electrical communicationwith the electrical contact and configured to interpret an electricalsignal generated by the electrical contact when its is in electricalcommunication with the metal pad of the IC chip-type card, and output anIC chip-type signal; and a solenoid-actuated stopper in electricalcommunication with the electrical contact to stop an IC chip-type cardat a desired location relative to the IC chip reading device.
 7. Thepayment terminal of claim 6 further comprising a display that displaysthe chip-type-specific GUI and the magnetic stripe-type-specific GUI. 8.The payment terminal of claim 6 wherein the card reader is a device onan exterior surface of the portable computing device.
 9. The paymentterminal of claim 6 wherein the card reader is a slot integrated withinthe portable computing device.
 10. The payment terminal of claim 6wherein the electrical contact determines when the IC chip-type card isinserted in the card reader by conducting an electrical signal across ametal pad on an exterior surface of the IC chip-type card.
 11. Thepayment terminal of claim 10 wherein the electrical contact is used inconjunction with a pin of the IC chip reading device to conduct theelectrical signal across the metal pad and determine when an ICchip-type card is present in the card reader.
 12. The payment terminalof claim 6 wherein the electrical contact determines when the ICchip-type card is inserted in the card reader by capacitive sensing ofthe metal pad on an exterior surface of the IC chip-type card.
 13. Acard reader configured to read both magnetic stripe-type cards andintegrated circuit (IC) chip-type cards, the card reader being acomponent of a point-of-sale system including a portable computingdevice in communication with the card reader, the card readercomprising: a magnetic reading device included in the card reader thatis configured to read data off a magnetic stripe of a magneticstripe-type card; an integrated circuit (IC) chip reading deviceincluded in the card reader that is configured to read data off an IC ofan IC chip-type card; an electrical contact configured to detect ICchip-type cards inserted in the card reader; a stopper that issolenoid-actuated by a controller when an IC chip-type card is detectedin the card reader to properly locate an IC chip-type card proximate theIC chip reading device and allow for full insertion of magneticstripe-type cards.
 14. The card reader of claim 13 further comprising adisplay included in the portable computing device that displays an ICchip card-specific graphical user interface when an IC chip-type card isdetected in the card reader and a magnetic stripe-specific graphicaluser interface when a magnetic stripe-type card is detected in the cardreader.
 15. The card reader of claim 13 wherein the card reader is aslot on a point-of-sale terminal and the magnetic reading device, the ICchip reading device and the electrical contact are included within theslot.
 16. The card reader of claim 13 wherein the electrical contact isconfigured to detect IC chip-type cards inserted in the card reader byconducting an electrical signal across a metal pad on an exteriorsurface of the IC chip-type card.
 17. The card reader of claim 13wherein the electrical contact is used in conjunction with a pin of theIC chip-reading device to conduct an electrical signal across the metalpad and detect when the IC chip-type card is inserted in the cardreader.
 18. The card reader of claim 13 wherein the electrical contactis capacitively-charged to sense the metal pad and detect when the ICchip-type card is inserted in the card reader.